San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1887-10-06

I occupied, "a we know already, one end
! Of the building which formed both mill
and cottage IL stood there under a
broad, slOping penthouse Of heavy thatCh
which made IL dark in the brightest day.
Once, long before, when the wheel was
stopped for some repairs, | held II in its
| place by a wooden spoke and amused
myself by climbing to the top under this
projecting roof IL was a girls trick,
and rather a dangerous one. l got no
good, not even the nest which expected
to find; but / saw hidden away in the
darkness a great hook stuck In the wall.
What it was originally placed there for
/ do not know, but II was so high up,
so hidden by the wheel and the black
shadows Of the roof, that il was quite
invisible from below. That was the place
for my bags First succeeded by tying
a spoke Of the wheel to one Of the beams
In the wood work in keeping the wheel,
over which the water was no longer run
| ming, mOtiOnless while / climbed up.
Then | mounted the wheel, which was
now like a ladder, and clambered up
three or four Of the undershot buckets
till / could reach the wall close under the
roof. Here felt about in the darkness
till found the hook, and then tying the
Cliu VI bhC hhlhs sSSuitAg W " iONtltu
the bags slowly into the black water be-
meath. heard above the noise of the
falling water the splash of the bags,
felt them touch the bottom, and then with
great gladness in my heart, thinking Of
Joshua's rage when he should find out
his loss, / cautiously descended from the
perilous perch, united the spoke and con-
sidered what to do next
The first temptations childish one
was TO hurl stones at his bedroom win
dow, so as to awaken him and bring him
down, but abandoned that idea, as an
other and a more brilliant one occurred
to Inc.
Joshua had sold twenty kegs out of the
cargo to Mr.. Mallock, the Justice Of the
peace. No doubt he had arranged, or was
arranging for the sale Of all the rest. No
doubt, too, he intended adding the pro-
ceeds Of this transaction to the pile-ahai
the pile beneath the hearthstone.
set off to run almost the whole Of the
way back to Rousdon, under the impulse
of this new idea, which filed my mind.
1t was about II o'clock, as should Judge.
1t took me nearly an hour before got to
Rousdon farm. had business to do, and
there would be no thought Of bed for me
that night. But first l went into the
house, found some supper, and procured
certain handy tools necessary for my pur-
pose.
Had time to do iti 1t had taken nearly
four hours to remove the cargo Of the
Dancing Polly from the boat to the hiding
place; could do what l proposed in six'
would try.
There certainly was no stronger girl
than myself along the whole shore The
life l had led in the open air-the rowing,
sailing and fishing; the gardening, the
rambles and climbs among the crags Of the
Holmbush fields and Pinhay point; the
sea bathing, the generous but simple diet
all these, added to physique to which
dame nature had been generous, made me
active and muscular above the average
even of young women living like myself.
Yet it was heavy task which l proposed
to effect.
1t was nothing less than to carry every
single keg down to the sea shore, turn out
the contents, fill them with sea water and
carry them back again. Fifty kegs at
least. Two hundred journeys up and
down that steep cliff, each time with a
weighty burden. But the thought Of
Joshua's CONSERVATION when he should
discover it gave ME courage.
When | had got all but six or seven
down the cliff another thought struck me.
There were the two kegs for my inform
ant, John Beer. 1t would not be fair to
give him sea water, after the service he
had done. There was also the poor old
rector. What would he do without his
brandy? and unless ! provided for him, he
would get none till Dan and the boys
came home again. So | removed the last
six, and carried them away to a place
where | was pretty certain Joshua would
not think of looking for them. And then
| proceeded to the next part of my task.
The kegs were now all in q row upon
the beach, lying on their sides l went
from one TO the other, and with my ham.
mer and chisel forced out the bung from
every Ole. In few minutes the smooth
water OF the little bay was salt water
brandy grog, rather weak, and the kegs
were empty.
To fill them again quickly was more diff
ficult | had to take off shoes and stock
ings, tuck up skirts, and wade in the
water, carrying each keg separately. 1t
was now growing late. must have been
at work five hours, and yet the kegs had
all TO be carried back.
Well, it was done at length The day
was breaking as the last keg was laid in
its place, and the brambles pulled together
to hide them. The tide had come up in
the bay, and washed away all the traces
of the brandy which had been split so
freely on the stones. l sat down and
tried to think soberly what had done.
A villain was punished; the meanest,
most treacherous, most cold blooded
scouDdrelism ever perpetrated had re-
ceived some sort of n fit reward. In a
few days, perhaps in a few hours, the
traitor would find his hearthstone prised
up, and his treasure gone. A few hours
more, and he would discover that his prize
from Dams unlucky run was not worth
the kegs which contained it,
And yet l was unsatisfied. All this
would not give me back my lover, nor
bring home Dan and the boys, nor undo
the misery of the past three weeks. l
thirsted for more revenge.
When l rose to go home the splendid
sun was rising over the waters of the
channel, and the morning was clear and
bright. Far off on the horizon saw the
sails Of great fleet. 1t must be Nelson's
fleet. Among the ships somewhere were
those l loved, going away to sea to face
battle, sudden death, shipwreck, plague
and pestilence, all by the act of one man.
lay at home all that morning asleep.
At IL O'Clock Mrs. Agus, surprised at my
long sleep, awakened me and brought me
some dinner.
Then l began to think again.
In the afternoon arrived my exciseman
"Have you done anything to Joshua
Mech, Pleasancef" he asked, in breath
less way, so that l knew he must have
heard something.
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